In this tutorial Alex will show his techniques for designing the texture style for a creature head. Using a new model made for this tutorial based on a personal sketch, the creature's skin detailing and style is designed in both 2D and 3D. With a 2D grayscale drawing, little information exists for how the creature would look once textured. Using Photoshop we can quickly develop a variety of looks which can be photo-realistically previewed in both Photoshop and Maya.

By layering specular, reflection and ambient occlusion passes out of Maya, the textures can be designed photorealistically in Photoshop while being projected onto the surface and rendered from different angles in 3D. This approach allows a texture artist to show a supervisor various approaches to a creature's texture design in little time. Once a look is approved, this technique makes the process of developing the final textures quick and straight forward.

• Skin detailing
• Developing multiple looks
• Layering render passes
• Working in Photoshop and Maya to achieve quick results

Chapters
1. Introduction
2. Render Passes
3. Photoshop Set-up
4. Texture Look-Dev 01
5. Texture Look-Dev 02
6. Texture Look-Dev 03
7. Conclusion

• Product Code: AAL05
• Duration: 225 minutes
• Formats: Download Only

For more information on DVD and Digital Download policies click here here.

Alex Alvarez

Founder, Director The Gnomon Workshop
Gnomon School of Visual Effects

Alex is founder and director of The Gnomon Workshop and of the Gnomon School of Visual Effects in Hollywood. Having dedicated the last decade to educating students and professional artists around the world, Alex has helped change the face of computer graphics and design education. He has been published in industry magazines, websites and books - plus he has taught courses at several major trade conferences. Alex is president of the Los Angeles Maya Users Group and sits on the Advisory Boards for Highend3D.com and CGsociety. He continues to work on personal and professional projects, recently as a creature development artist on the James Cameron film Avatar. Prior to Gnomon, Alex worked for Alias|Wavefront as a consultant and trainer for studios in the Los Angeles area. Alex is an alumnus of the Art Center College of Design and the University of Pennsylvania.